The Strength of Superman
by jajenshadimose6012
Summary: Lois has learned who Clark really is and she is determined to teach him how to fly. Once success is achieved, an admission of their feelings leads to a further development in their relationship-one that they cannot come back from.
1. Chapter 1

"You know, Smallville, if I had a dollar for every time I've walked up to this barn to see you doing that broody, distant look off into the sunset, Lex Luthor would have _no_ idea what hit him," Lois noted, as she walked up the final steps to Clark's loft.

Clark started at the sound of Lois' voice and whipped around to face her. A smirk twitched at his lips, but he managed to suppress it. "Lois," he breathed, turning the rest of the way to face her full-on.

"So am I supposed to bow every time I see you now or how does this work exactly?" she asked, a slight smile tugging up the corners of her lips. "Being BFFs with the Blur kinda makes me feel like a celebrity or something, you know? Don't really know how to go about it. Am I supposed to spaz out and go all fan girl or something?"

He rolled his eyes, shaking his head in exasperation. "No. Don't…even think about it," he said, with a soft, nervous laugh. "Nothing's changed. I don't want you to treat me any differently than you always have. There is nothing special about me—I don't want any special treatment."

"Wow," she said, stifling a snort. "That is so not how I would go about it. If it were me, I'd take advantage of people left and right. I'd have people waiting on me, hand and foot."

He breathed a chuckle. "No, you wouldn't, Lois. That's just not who you are."

"No, that's not who _you_ are," she corrected. "You have all these extraordinary abilities…abilities that literally qualify you to be considered a god on this planet. You can do anything. Yet you use every power at your disposal for the sake of the greater good, doing everything you can to make the world a better place. You've taken it upon yourself to be our very own self-appointed savior."

"Which I have no doubt in my mind you would do too if roles were reversed, Lois," he assured her. "You might be a little…" She gave him a sharp look, making him rethink his words. "…rough around the edges from time to time," he said, for lack of a better term. "…but when it comes down to it, at the end of the day, you are willing to sacrifice everything you have _for_ that greater good. To ensure the right call is always made, no matter what the cost might be."

Lois nodded slightly as she continued staring at him, amused more than anything else by the trademark Clark Kent speech of nobility and humility that she so should've seen coming.

Clark grimaced at that, seeing the amusement in her eyes, and let out a small sigh. "So, how've you been?" he finally asked, as he slowly began approaching her.

She shrugged, not removing her eyes from his. "Physically…no one makes a faster comeback than Lois Lane. I'm good as new, ready to take on the armies of the world—hell, of the universe—if it comes down to it. And, emotionally…" she sighed and let out a small, reluctant laugh. "…I'm just all over the place," she admitted. "Definitely been better."

"Lois—"

"Clark." Lois immediately held up a hand to stop him, cutting him off. "Let's…just not. Okay? I know. I mean, I get it."

"And?" Clark pushed, coming to a stop several feet in front of her, hesitant to get too close.

"No and. That's it. You're the Blur. Not much more to it," she said, matter-of-factly.

"You're not…mad?" he asked, unable to hide the surprise in his voice.

She gave a small, sympathetic smile, taking a bold step towards him. "No, Clark, I'm not mad. I told you, I get it. You have…all these incredible gifts and abilities and instead of using them for your own personal gain as most people would do, you use them to save the world on a daily basis."

"And, the fact that I've been lying to you for the past, what, 4-5 years? No bitterness about that? No resentment?"

"Just how small do you think I am?" she demanded, feigning insult at his comment.

"No, Lois, I didn't mean it like that; I'm just saying—"

"I know what you're saying, Clark, spare me the speech, huh?" she said, with a dismissive wave of her hand. "You had every right to be a little reluctant to tell me the truth. God knows I'm not the most reliable confidante in the world. After all, my foot never has quite learned the talent of fitting into my mouth. And, my mouth gets set off by the tiniest of things. One tiny slip-up and I could've totally sold you out like that." She snapped her fingers to really emphasize her point.

Now _he_ took a bold step forward. "No, Lois, that's not it. That's not why I didn't tell you who I was. I trust you; you have to know that. It had nothing to do with you. I had every confidence in the world that if and when I told you, you would protect my identity. You would do whatever it took to protect me."

She groaned. "Well, glad to know you have so much faith in me, because uh…I sure don't."

"You should," Clark said, giving her another small smile. "Lois, you are so much stronger than you give yourself credit for. If anyone could've handled it, it would've been you."

"And, you give me much more credit than I deserve," Lois said, with an eye roll.

Clark took her by her arms, pulling her in closer to him. "Lois, it was never a question of whether or not you could handle it. It wasn't a question of you, period. It was a question of me and whether or not _I_ would be enough."

"Okay…you wanna explain that to me, Smallville?" Lois said, narrowing her eyes at him in both confusion and amusement. "Cause, uh…_that_, I don't get."

He gave a small, weary sigh as he tried once again to put his thoughts into words. "Lois, I have seen what knowing my secret has done to people. Knowing who I really am, what I can do…it destroys them. I have watched the people I love suffer for my sake, to protect me. I've seen the pain and the heartache they put up with, and despite what they say or how much they are willing to sacrifice for me…"

Clark grimaced slightly, averting his eyes from hers. "Lois, one way or another, I have lost everyone I have ever loved because of who I am," he finally managed to say, turning his attention back to her. "You have no idea what a burden my secret really is. People are always coming after me, Lois. _Bad_ people. They'll come after me and they'll come after the people I love. They will stop at nothing to expose who I really am."

"And, _I_ will stop at nothing to protect you," Lois assured him, her voice bold and confident.

"Yeah, that's exactly what I'm afraid of," Clark blurted out.

"What?"

"Lois, I can't lose you," he clarified, seeming slightly embarrassed but not at all ashamed by the admission. "I'm sorry, but I just can't. Not you, okay? I am fully aware of how far you are willing to go to protect my identity, Lois, and I'm grateful. I am. You have no idea what it means to me that—"

"Clark, you're not going to lose me," she told him, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere."

"Maybe not intentionally," he agreed. "But, Lois, you don't get it. You can't."

"Hmm, well then, explain it to me, farm boy," Lois teased, crossing her arms stubbornly across her chest.

"Lois, as fast as I might be, the day is bound to come where…I won't be enough. I told you, people are going to come after you now. And, while I trust that you won't give me up, I can't trust that I am going to be there every single time to save you. I can't trust that I'm going to be enough to keep _you_ safe. You're so willing to give anything for me, to protect me and I'm not so sure that I have what it takes to return the favor. I can't stand the thought of anything happening to you, Lois…but I sure as _hell_ cannot stand the thought of something happening to you because of me."

"Clark…" Lois choked out, her voice somewhat strained as she spoke her next words. "But, you can do anything," she finished, her voice dropping to just above a whisper.

"No, Lois," Clark corrected, shaking his head miserably. "I can't. I can't do everything."

She practically scoffed. "Oh, come on, Smallville, that is just ridiculous. I have seen what you can do—in fact, something tells me I haven't even seen the _half _of what you can do. You might not be invincible, per se, but God, Clark, your strength—"

"Will mean nothing whatsoever if you die because of it, Lois," Clark finished for her. "I might be strong, but even my strength has its limits. I might be bulletproof and I can catch a car like it's a beach ball, sure. But the fact is…that's it. That is where my strength ends. I might be the man of steel on the outside, but on the inside…any strength I have is because of you."

Lois rolled her eyes. "Oh, I know. I am just all kinds of bad-ass and influential when it comes to the deep, meaningful crap in life. But, that's not what this is about. This isn't about your inner strength and all that…whatever. The bottom line is I trust you, Clark. And, I know that no matter who or what comes after me, I am perfectly safe with you watching my back. Or as safe as an ace reporter who makes enemies for a living can be, anyways."

"You have no idea how much I want that to be true, Lois," he told her. "I want to believe that as much as you do, but I just can't—"

"Clark, if you can't trust yourself, then at least trust me," Lois said, grabbing his face between her hands forcing him to look at her. "You owe me that much. You said it yourself: you trust me. So trust me now. If you can trust me to be enough to protect you, it only seems inevitable that you trust yourself to be enough to protect me."

"It's not that simple." Clark tried to turn his head in shame, but she tightened her hold on his face, locking it in place so he couldn't look away.

"Clark, listen to me. Even if, God forbid, you didn't get to me on time…you know I'd be okay with that, right? I mean, I'd understand. If something did happen to me, I'd never blame you for it. Mostly, I'd blame the jerk-offs who offed me. That seems as good a place as any to place the blame."

Clark jerked away from her with those words. "Lois, I'm not kidding," Clark said, his frustration seeping into his words.

"And, what makes you think I am?" Lois demanded. "I know the sarcasm usually precedes the kidding mode with me, but you know me better than that by now. You can tell when I'm cracking jokes and when I'm trying desperately to avoid awkward conversation."

"What?" He gave her a weary look. "Lois, what are you talking about? What awkward conversation?"

"Well, you know, the… 'Oh, my God, _you_ are the Blur; I can't believe it' conversation. Followed by the who, what, when where, why, how aspects of it all that the reporter inside me is just _burning_ to know. And, of course, complete with a chorus or two of… 'Where do we go from here?' and 'Where do we…stand…with…you know, each other?' " Her voice faltered towards the end of her speech, her pitch managing to go up a couple octaves despite the fact that her voice itself was fading away.

Lois' heart gave a small stutter with those words and she averted her eyes from his, exhaling shakily. God, she so did not want to have to deal with this. She dreaded having to do this so much, but she desperately needed to know the answer. She needed to know what she meant to him.

"Lois, you don't have to be nervous." His voice was laced with the faintest hint of concern, despite the small smile of assurance he gave her.

"What?" Lois cried out, a little too defensively. "Exactly what would make you think I was nervous? I am _not_ nervous—"

"Your heart, Lois," Clark immediately interjected. "I can hear your heart. Your heartbeat, it stuttered. The way it does…when you're nervous," Clark said, trailing off sheepishly with his last words.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, when I'm nervous?" Lois asked, holding up a hand to cut him off. "You been keeping tabs on my heart, Kent?"

"Can't help but," he admitted, giving her the slightest of smiles to help ease the freaky psycho factor of it all—should she find any.

"Oh, stop that!" Lois accused, folding her arms across her chest and fixing him with a stubborn look.

"Stop what?" Clark asked, looking somewhat startled by her "accusation".

"That!" Lois gestured to him emphatically, on the verge of hysteria. "That whole Clark Kent…charm thing. You always do that—you do that thing of yours where you try to _comfort_ me or whatever."

"And, that's a bad thing?" An amused glint shone in Clark's eyes as he stared at Lois, with a mixture of concern and affection.

"Yes!" Lois said, without missing a beat. "Because I don't want your comfort. I don't want you to try to make me feel better like you always do. I do not need your damn shoulder to cry on, okay? I've got a perfectly good one…" She tapped her own shoulder a couple times to really emphasize it. "…right here. Therefore, yours is highly unnecessary and _very_ highly unwanted."

"Lois—" Clark took a step forward.

Lois immediately staggered back, shoving his arms away when he reached out to grab her. "And, don't you Lois me, Kent!"

"Lois!" Clark tried again, taking yet another step forward. That step resulted in her stumbling back into the banister and, this time, Clark did grab hold of her to keep her from falling down the staircase.

"Let go of me." Her voice was hard with her aggravation.

"_No_," he returned, his tone matching hers perfectly. "Lois, are you insane? God, you'd rather take the fall down the staircase than confront what you're really feeling. What is the matter with you?"

"_You_ are," Lois blurted out, before she could stop herself.

"What?" Clark demanded.

She kept her eyes averted from his, knowing that one look into those baby blues would totally ruin all her effort. "Clark, I don't—I can't—"

"Well, tough! Cause you're gonna." Clark tightened his hold on her arms, pulling her closer to him both to get her away from the edge of the stairs and out of his frustration.

"I can't!" she repeated.

"Why not? Lois, what could be so terrible that you can't just—?"

"Clark, it's hard to confront what I'm feeling when I've never felt anything like it before!" Lois cried out, her frustration getting the best of her. "I told you, I can't. I don't know…how. I don't know how to deal with it. You are bringing out all these feelings in me—I'm drowning in all these freaking emotions and I don't know what the hell to do with any of it! Okay? Satisfied?"

"Well…" Clark finally began, once he regained the ability to speak. "Talking about it seems to be a…you know, a good start," he suggested, seeming slightly hesitant to do so.

"I don't even know how to do that!" she said, with a hard, forced laugh. "Smallville, not all of us grew up like you did. The General didn't exactly shower me with affection. In fact, if he ever caught me expressing affection, it was back to boot camp for me. The man couldn't even say he loved me—his own daughter. Yeah, I know he did. And, that's cool. He had way more important things to deal with. He didn't have time to coddle me and read me bedtime stories. He didn't have time for _me_, not when he had the whole country to worry about. I get that. I also get that you have a whole world to protect. I can't be your top priority, no matter what. And, I don't want to be."

Clark stared at her for a long moment, analyzing her words, trying to figure out what he should say.

"Lois, whatever you're feeling, it's okay. And, you can tell me anything; you know that, right? Promise I won't ship you off to boot camp or cut off your arm or anything. Chances actually are that your feelings are quite similar to my own. You make me feel all these things that I didn't even know existed. Do you know how much easier it is to be with someone when it just…comes as natural to you as breathing? When you don't have pain constantly plaguing your mind? Lois, I have loved and lost so much…yet, none of them have ever gotten to me like you have."

"Not even Lana," Lois couldn't help but ask.

Clark took a step forward and grabbed Lois by her arms again—gentler and much more affectionate, this time. "Lois, you have made me happier in the past two years alone than Lana ever could in the past two decades. Great as she was, she had nothing on you."

Lois gave a small, relieved smile at that. "Huh…never thought I'd hear you say that, Smallville."

"Just wish I had said it sooner," he said. "Lois, for what it's worth, I know exactly where you stand with me. What you are to me."

"And, that would be?" she pushed, holding her breath as she waited for the answer.

"Everything, Lois," he told her. "You're everything to me. And, as for the other responsibility stuff…" His hands found hers and he held them in his own as he spoke his next words. "As important as protecting this planet is, you have to realize that you are just as important to me. I promise you that I will find the time to be there for you and continue saving the world. I don't care what it takes or what it is I'm up against, I will always make time for you."

"Clark, you can't do that," Lois contradicted. "You can't make me any promises. Not when it comes to this—"

Clark gave her hands a gentle squeeze to turn her attention back to him. "Lois, your father is a great man, he is. And, he has done a lot for this country. But with all due respect, his priorities were seriously mixed up. He should've found a way to make it work, to keep you in his life as more than just another expendable soldier. Running the troops takes priority, sure, but he was more than just a general. He was a father too. He had an obligation to you. And showing his daughter the love and respect she deserves…that is a category all on its own."

Lois actually let out a laugh at that. "Well, easy there, Smallville, all right? Saving the world and putting up with my crap on a daily basis might be no problem for you, but no one else has what it takes to hack it. At least not without hacking _off_ a limb or something else valuable of mine. Not all of us have superpowers working to our advantage, Superman. We mere mortals don't have quite the skill you do, I'm afraid."

An amused smirk played on Clark's lips as he averted his eyes, considering that for a brief moment. "Hmm, Superman?" He nodded his head slightly, turning his attention back to her. "It's catchy. I like it."

"Oh, yeah?" Lois beamed with pride that he actually liked her name. "Well thanks, I try. But, first things first, before we get any further into the complication of the 'where we stand' issue, let's address the simpler, more black-and-white issues….Superman. What other tricks you got hiding up that red and blue sleeve of yours, huh?"


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey, guys, sorry it's taken me so long to update this-I'm juggling two fics with school so I alternate fics-doing one ch. for one fic then one for another then one then the other, etc. So, it took me a while to finish this, but I hope you like it and think the wait was worth it. :) And, I have to say, I, personally, do not like how this ch. turned out-I thought it was utterly terrible and I just could not get it the way I like it, but I figured I owed it to you guys to update so...hope you don't think it's too terrible. I'm having the hardest time getting into this fic for some reason, but I hope I do them justice and hope you guys can put up with it :/ Thank you all so much for your support and I hope you continue to like it **

_Any minute now,_ Clark thought to himself, in a useless attempt to convince himself to get on with it. _Any minute now…a miracle's going to happen. I'm—_

Okay, well he wasn't exactly _sure_ of it, so much as he was desperately hoping and praying to God that he _could_ do this and that everything would be okay.

Clark held his breath as he stared vacantly into the setting sun, sinking further and further into the western horizon until it finally disappeared into the sky, leaving nothing but an empty, practically menacing darkness in its wake.

Anxiety and fear pounded in his veins as he stood on that ledge. He actually began trembling in his trepidation—clenching and unclenching his fists to try to calm himself down. If he didn't know any better, he would've said his palms were starting to sweat with how nervous he was. They definitely felt a little clammy by this point.

Oh, God…what the hell was he doing? Was he _actually_ considering just letting himself go and hoping for the best? Yeah, he was supposed to be able to fly, but dear God, that was a long drop. And, he was not suicidal. Not that the fall could actually kill him, but still, why bother? This was just getting ridiculous. Why would any sane person try to do this—?

"Clark, would you stop being such a pussy and just do it already?" Lois called—loud and obnoxious as ever—peeking her head around his shoulder to see what was taking him so long.

"God!" Clark actually jumped and jerked around to face her. "Lois!"  
"What?" she asked, putting on her best innocent face.

"You're not helping," he told her, not even bothering to hide his irritation.

She gave a small shrug. "Yeah, well…I'm not hurtin' anything either, Smallville."

"Don't be so sure," he said, narrowing his eyes at her in his agitation.

She gave him a huge, broad smile, tilting her head slightly to the side, making her looking all the more adorable.

"Lois, you're not making this any easier," he said, with a sigh.

She rolled her eyes. "Clark, I don't get what the big deal is. Even if, God forbid, you fell, you can't hurt yourself. In fact, I feel worse for the poor ground out there than I do for you. You'd do more damage to that than it could do to you. So, come on, man. Gotta at least try, right?"

"No, I don't," Clark contradicted. "I am perfectly capable of protecting the world on ground level. I fail to see how being in the skies will improve those capabilities."

"This isn't even about protecting the world," Lois argued. "This is the fact that you have all these amazing, hard-core, kick-ass gifts and you're not even using them to their fullest potential. You can fly, Clark—fly. I'd kill to be able to fly; do you have any idea how amazing that must be? What it must feel like?"

"Terrifying?" Clark suggested.

"Not even. It's gotta be…God, phenomenal. Could you even imagine what it must be like to have to have that kind of power at your fingertips? Have you ever felt anything like that before? Something that was just so great and so remarkable that it made you feel…small and insignificant in comparison?"

"I have you," Clark said, seeming slightly sheepish yet also anxious for the subject change. He reached out and touched her arm. "I've never felt so small and insignificant as I did the day I met you."

"Nice try," Lois said, with a dry smirk. "It's not gonna work. Use it or lose it, Smallville." She gestured flying with her hand, inclining her head towards the window.

"Good," Clark replied. "I don't want it anyways. I hate heights."

"And, I hate annoying, dorky farm boys that insist on pissing me off to no end, but I still deal with your shit," she said, gesturing to him emphatically.

"I'm not going to do it," Clark said, crossing his arms across his chest, fixing her with a stubborn glare. "You can't me do it, Lois."

A slight smirk twitched at Lois' lips, and she returned his stubborn glare with a challenging one of her own. After a brief moment, she gave a small shrug. "The hell I can't, Kent."

And, with that, Lois threw herself out the window without even sparing Clark another glance…another word, or hell, not even another _thought_.

"Lois!" Clark called after her, panicked, before immediately throwing himself after her, giving no thought whatsoever to his fears and concerns about flying. No, his only concern at the moment was: save Lois.

Not even a second later, Clark had Lois in his arms—long before she actually touched the ground—and, without even realizing it, he had swooped them back up and was now hovering in mid-air.

"Ah," Lois murmured, happily. " 'Bout time you got _something_ up, Kent."

"Lois, what the hell is wrong with you?" Clark demanded, ignoring her sarcasm. "Are you insane? What were you thinking?"

"I knew the burning desire to save me and the intense pleasure that follows would trump any fears you felt, so…I took a shot," Lois explained.

" 'Intense pleasure'?" Clark repeated her words appalled, still not quite over the panic. "What intense pleasure?"

"The intense pleasure of being able to save my life, duh!" she said, as if it was the most obvious concept in the world. "I can think of no greater pleasure in life than holding a chick as hot me in your arms. Are you honestly telling me that is not the case?" she challenged.

"So, you took a shot?" Clark demanded, refusing to answer her question. "And, what if I wasn't able to fly, Lois? What if I _couldn't_ keep us up?"

Lois shrugged. "Eh, I'm used to the impotence of Clark Kent by now in all _other_ senses of the word. I improvise. That is the beauty of Lois Lane—the uncanny ability to squirm her way out of _any_ situation. Life and death to me are nothing more than words by now."

"Is that supposed to be funny?" he asked, with a frustrated sigh. "Lois, you are not invincible. You have to stop acting like you are—"

"Oh, please, you were not going to let me die, Clark. I know that. Had to get you to do fly somehow and I figured this was as good a way as any."

"How's that now?"

"Reverse psychology, Smallville," Lois said, bringing up her hand to playfully tap his nose with her index finger. "It's a beautiful thing. You're being controlled by your fears so I resort to the only method I knew would work—I distract you from those fears by putting myself in jeopardy and poof." She snapped her fingers. "Just like that, all your fears disappear and your only concern at the moment was: save Lois. Am I right?"

"That's not even reverse psychology," Clark told her.

Lois considered that for a moment before scoffing and saying, "Oh, shut up, what the hell do you know? I don't really wanna have sex with my father either, Freud, so apparently you're not so much with the knowing—"

"Lois, will you stop it with that already? God, I've had it with all your jokes and your sarcasm and your flagrant disregard for your life or your safety, for that matter. Look, the point is—"

"Well, the _point_ is…" Lois said, heavily emphasizing the word point. "…that, either way, we're both fine. And, doesn't seem like it was such a bad thing after all, cause uh…well, hate to freak you out even more, Clark, but don't look down."

With those words, Clark's eyes immediately drifted down to see them…still hovering a good 100 feet or so above the ground. His eyes widened with that realization and his arms instinctively tightened around Lois, both to be sure he had a good hold on her and that he, himself wouldn't go crashing to the ground.

"Oh, my…God," he muttered, his voice emotionless and almost hollow.

Lois smiled as her eyes followed his, though no fear filled hers. Only wonder and awe at this feeling, at this moment. "See?" she told him, beaming with pride as she turned her eyes back on him. "You can do it. You can do anything. I always knew you could—it was just a matter of making you see that you could."

Clark grimaced slightly. "Well, not anything."

"Clark, we literally just had a detailed conversation of what you could do and what you are," Lois reminded him. "Seems pretty unlimited to me."

"Not exactly," Clark contradicted. "I mean, yeah, I can do a lot, sure, but…not everything."

"Oh, right. Kryptonite," Lois recalled. "Your Achille's heel. I got that. Everyone has their weaknesses, Smallville, even you. That doesn't mean anything."

"I wasn't talking about the Kryptonite, Lois," Clark said, shaking his head slightly.

"Then, what?"

"Doesn't matter," Clark said, forcing a small smile. "You said it yourself, Lois—it doesn't mean anything."

"Great," Lois said, turning her attention back to their surroundings. "Then, let's make something out of this nothing. Let me fly Air Clark—we could go check out…you know. The world or something?"

Clark breathed a chuckle. "Lois, I don't know if I feel comfortable flying you around the world in 80 seconds quite yet, you know? Don't know if I've got the controls figured out just yet, if I screw up and you fall—"

"—it'll be like a really intense roller coaster ride, only better," Lois finished for him. "Because I don't have the seat belt restraining me so I can get the full experience and really revel in it."

"And, I might not get there in time to catch you so you could—"

"Oh, dear God, will you stop it with that already, Kent!" Lois cried out, in exasperation. "I don't want to hear how I could die and how guilty you'd feel or whatever, okay? This is my call, buddy, not yours. It's my life and if I wanna risk it to spend some quality time with you, well then that's my business. I'm not Lana. I won't stand by and let you 'protect' me and 'blow me off for the sake of keeping me safe', all right? You have no say in this, Clark. It's my say, it's my decision, and nothing you say is going to change my mind."

"Lois—"

"Clark!" Lois snapped, fixing him with a hard glare. "Fly, me."

He just stared at her for a moment, amused. "This isn't Airlines Express, Lois."

"Yeah, it's better," Lois said. "This is just like that, only with a really hot—albeit, dorky and freakishly prude—guy behind the wheel instead some old dude in his 50s."

"Not all pilots are old, Lois."

"No, but the best one ever is right here and he's being a little pussy—_again_." Lois pointed out. "God, Clark, are they _ever_ gonna drop?"

"That's…good talk," Clark said, narrowing his eyes at her, amused.

"Thanks, I try. But, seriously, Clark, you need to stop being so scared about this or whatever. It's just ridiculous—"

"It's not me I'm scared for, Lois," Clark told her. "It's you."

"Ah. Well, perhaps it's me you should be scared _of_," she corrected, smiling even broader at him. "After all, superpowers or not, no one has the means to hurt you like Lois Lane does. I just happen to know you that well. I know all your Achille's heels and I'll attack every last one of 'em. Except for…of course, that particular one, I'll steer clear of. But, all the other ones? Yeah. Their asses are mine."

Clark chuckled again. "I'll keep that in mind."

Lois gave him a brief nod before saying, "All right, then…up, up and away?" He still looked hesitant so Lois continued on. "Clark, listen to me. I appreciate how hard this is for you, I do. I'm not scared of heights, so I don't get how this must be freaking you out, but…I just don't understand it. You can do this, Clark. You're doing it right now. It should come to you as easy as breathing."

"I don't really have to breathe, you know," Clark let her know. "I mean, I do, but, it's not a necessity."

"Okay, then eating. It should come to you as easy as eating."

"Don't really have to eat either. I just do it cause I like food so much." He actually sounded sheepish with that comment.

Lois scoffed. "Okay, then what, Clark? What comes easy to you cause I'm running out of metaphors over here?"

Keeping his gaze locked on hers, he smiled. "You do."

"Okay, great. So flying should come as easily to you as I do," Lois said. "And, FYI, I've never come so easily to a man before so you should feel honored."

"I already do, Lois," he assured her.

She smiled. "So show me you are…and show me the world. Or…the cornfields of Smallville from a different perspective, at least."

"I can't," Clark said, with a soft sigh.

"You are," Lois said, placing a hand gently on his cheek.

"What?" Clark looked down to see that they were indeed flying…and the barn was long gone. He couldn't even see it—or even the farm—anymore. Oh, God…this couldn't be good. "Lois—" he began, uncertainly.

"Shh…" she gave him a reassuring smile when he turned his attention back to her. "It's okay. You're doing just fine. You're doing it, Clark. And, you didn't need me or anything else to be able to. You just had to do it for yourself to know that you could."

"When did you turn into a fortune cookie?" Clark muttered.

"When did you turn into a smart-ass?" Lois returned. "That was just so not a Clark thing to say. Think I might be rubbing off on you—you never used to talk like that."

"Guess you just bring it out on me," he suggested.  
"Yeah, I tend to bring out the best qualities in people; it's a gift. I can't explain it."

"Perhaps it has to do with the fact that you happen to be the best person on this planet—or at least one of them, anyway."

"Oh, please. I'll always be running at a full-on sprint in my desperate attempts to be anywhere near the vicinity of you and how great you are," Lois said. "No matter how fast I run or how hard I try, I will never even begin to compare to you."

"Yeah, because you're much better than I am," Clark assured her. "You have a strength and a power within you that I could never conceive, Lois. One that far surpasses my own."

"Oh, God, are we really gonna have this conversation again?" Lois asked, with an eye roll.

"No, I guess not." Clark averted his eyes. "Doesn't make it any less true, though."

"Yeah, whatever you say. Do you mind You're kinda ruining the moment here, Smallville. It's supposed to be all spectacular and great and you are very much negating that greatness with your arguing."

"What; and you're not?"

"Oh, I could never ruin anything. I'm just that amazing."

"You've got a point there," Clark agreed, smiling at her again before turning his attention back to flying. "All right, you win. I give up. I'll fly."

"No…_we'll_ fly," Lois corrected.

And, that they did. They flew all over Smallville—even daring to go to Metropolis—flying together for hours on end.

It wasn't until the late hours of the night that they finally returned to Smallville, touching down on the ground just in front of the barn. Clark gently set Lois on her feet, but he never did remove his arms from around her. He kept his eyes locked on hers, taking in her emotion and the changes in her expression.

Neither one of them spoke for a long moment, just taking in the moment and committing it to memory.

"That was…amazing," Lois finally spoke, settling on that for lack of a better word.

"Yeah, it really was," Clark agreed. "And, I never could've done it if it wasn't for you, Lois."

"No, you could've; you just wouldn't. My incessant trademark nagging is to thank for that. Yep. Never thought you'd see the day when you'd be grateful for that, I'll bet, huh?"

He laughed softly. "I'm grateful for that every day, Lois," he assured her. "And, you're right. I wouldn't have done it if it wasn't for you. But, it's more than just that."

"Oh yeah; how's that now?"

"I couldn't have done it if it wasn't for you, Lois; I literally couldn't. I never could before and now…it was you. You made me fly."

"Yeah, I make lots of guys fly," Lois said, with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Granted, it's mostly through sexual means, but…and now is so not the time for jokes about Lois Lane's sexcapades so I'm just gonna shut up now and, uh…we can just pretend that never happened."

"Right, that reminds me," Clark began, finally releasing her and taking a step back. "We had the whole 'who I really am and what I can do' thing—awkward and difficult as that was—but now…"

"Now…?" Lois pushed, when he didn't continue.

"Now, we've gotta have the other conversation," he finished. "The…'where we stand with each other' conversation."

"Oh, that conversation," Lois said, her shoulders actually slumping with that realization.

"Yes, that conversation," Clark confirmed.

"Oh, God, do we have to?"

"I really think we do." Clark took a step forward, taking her hands in his own before fixing her with an intense stare. "Lois, I think we need to talk."


End file.
